The present invention relates generally to rotary engines and in particular to rotary hydraulic engines which may be driven from a source of fluid under pressure such as compressed air.
Over the last 100 years a wide variety of rotary engines have been developed which operate on steam, gasoline, compressed air, electromagnetism, or the like. Examples may be seen in the following United States Patents.
__________________________________________________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Title of Invention Issue Date Inventor __________________________________________________________________________ 82,007 Improvement In Rotary 9-8-1868 Abraham Kipp, Jr. Steam-Engines 272,616 Force Pump 2-20-1883 A. Annibale 394,684 Rotary Engine 12-18-1888 J. M. Farmer 743,230 Rotary Explosive Engine 11-3-1903 G. C. Blasdell 756,362 Rotary Engine 4-5-1904 R. Hazelrigg 890,532 Explosive Engine 6-9-1908 A. P. Schmucker 956,881 Gasoline Engine 5-3-1910 J. C. Bonnett 1,045,505 Two Stroke Cycle 11-26-1912 G. A. Brauer Internal Combustion Engine 1,061,923 Internal Combustion 5-13-1913 J. C. Pealer Engine 1,227,451 Rotating Cylinder 5-22-1917 B. C. Kenyon Gas Engine 1,980,924 Rotary Gas Engine 11-13-1934 C. G. McDonald 2,045,330 Radial Plunger Pump 6-23-1936 H. F. MacMillin 2,311,064 Gyroscopic Internal 2-16-1943 P. R. McCrary Combustion Engine 2,683,422 Rotary Engine Or 7-13-1954 A. Z. Richards, Jr. Compressor 3,093,301 Lubricating System 6-11-1963 O. Mitchell For Compressor 3,220,390 Rodless Rotary Engines 11-30-1965 P. C. Grunstra 3,784,334 Electromagnetically 1-8-1974 Adolph J. Hilgert Driven Fluid Compressing Apparatus 3,823,697 Multicylinder Motor Or 7-16-1974 Paul Von Esch Engine With Double- Acting Pistons 3,894,817 Oscillatory Armature 7-15-1975 Istvan Majoros, Piston Pump Franz Kiss Horvath 4,072,445 Rotary Gas Pressure 2-7-1978 Johnny L. Hay Engine System 4,249,487 Rotary Internal 2-10-1981 Robert B. Chambers Combustion Engine 4,374,330 Control Circuit For A 2-15-1983 Rainer Fey Part Which Is Moved In An Oscillating Manner By An Electric Drive __________________________________________________________________________
In most of the above listed rotary engines such as Kipp, U.S. Pat. No. 82,007, a housing rotates about a fixed crankshaft, such as in the present invention. In addition, as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,683,422, it has been known in the past to utilize a rotary engine as a compressor. It has also been known to utilize a rotary engine to pump liquids. However, a frequent problem with rotary engines such as those disclosed is that the valving mechanism utilized is contained within the housing and frequently wears rapidly so that an effective seal is not maintained for a sufficient period of time. An additional problem in this regard is that the construction of virtually all of the rotary engines in the aforesaid patents requires special machining to very tight rolerances of both housing and pistons.